Recommendations of Banks and Funding Small Projects conference

Damascus, SANA- The First Syrian Conference for Banks and Funding Small Projects wrapped up its activities on Thursday with the participants recommending to establish a Support Fund for the small and medium enterprises, to change the stalled projects into Joint-stock companies, and to join the private and public banks that lent the projects’ owner as shareholders participants.

The 3-day conference was launched on Tuesday at Dama Rose Hotel under the title “I will support my Country and Start Working from Now” with the participation of representatives of public and private banks, microfinance institutions, insurance companies and other service corporations.

The participants called for forming a fund to support the traditional crafts, supporting the Syrian inventors in financing their projects, and establishing stock-holding companies put up for selling investment bonds in the fields of rebuilding, tourist investment and real-estate development .

The Executive Director of Damascus Securities Exchange (DSE) , Ma’moun Hamdan pointed out the role of DSE in supporting and encouraging investment, increasing savings among the public, facilitating capital investment, providing the possibility of investing for all segments of society, making easy the capital exchange among the investors with just prices.

The DSE, according to Hamdan, plays important role in encouraging to establish public joint -stock companies by the foreign and local investors and contributes to finding job opportunities in Syria and founding small projects.

Activities of the conference covered a number of topics including the role of charities from providing a partial solution to the problem of poverty to providing job opportunities and the required funding for small projects.

Participants stressed, during the conference activities, that solving the problem of poverty can be done through funding small and micro projects, increasing production, ensuring self-sufficiency, funding all segments of society with suitable guarantees, establishing a council of experts, supporting small projects without restrictions and the partnership between the public and private sectors to combat poverty and unemployment, in addition to curbing the immigration.

They called upon the public and private banks to play their social role in a way that will be up to the challenges imposed by the current crisis in Syria.

Participants in the conference also stressed the role of insurance companies in enhancing the economy through reducing the losses and attracting capitals.

They shed light on the importance of adopting ideas of the youths and strengthening their links with their society through finding job opportunities for them and helping them discover the suitable project and to start it as the beginning is usually the most difficult step in any project.

Reem/Barry